Armadillo Aerospace has won the first level of the Lunar Lander Challenge X Prize! I’ve been a big fan of these challenges and for the past three years I’ve seen Armadillo almost make it. Tomorrow they try for the second level so if all goes well, when Americans go back to the moon, they’ll be touching down on the regolith with Armadillo landers.In other news, Armadillo Aerospace has teamed up with the Rocket Racing League to not only build a fleet of racers that will streak through the atmosphere, but to also design and build a new craft (with a transparent bubble-shaped cockpit) that will shoot out into space! I can already envision rocket drag races with orbit as the finish line.
Update on the Lunar Lander Challenge: Armadillo Aerospace wasn't able to win the second level of the event because their lander stalled and fell over. Still, they won $350,000 from the first level and they'll try again sometime in early 2009.
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